Make Change:

A quick-start guide to local campaigning

A better childhood. For every child.

www.childrenssociety.org.uk

Hi. Welcome to The Childrens Societys guide to campaigning, which will help you make a difference for children and young people. Firstly, a massive thank you! The success of The Childrens Society depends on you to make real change, and its fantastic that youre getting involved. Whether youre just getting started, or youre a seasoned campaigner, this little guide will help you plan and run a winning campaign in your area. Whether you do something as simple as signing a petition, as involved as arranging a demonstration, or as direct as giving a speech: any action, big or small, to make a better world for young people to live in makes you a campaigner.

Contents
The Childrens Society What is campaigning? Planning Making a change Raising awareness Getting started Growing Meetings with other campaigners Forming a group Alliances Making change with your church Lobbying your MP Lobbying your local councillor Growing media attention Photographs Materials Case studies Campaigning using social media Blogging Succeeding Celebrate your successes, however small Evaluating Tools, links, resources, contact Press release template 02 3 3 4 4 5 5 6 6 7 8 9 10 11 13 14 14 14 14 15 16 16 17 18 19

The Childrens Society

We aim to create a society where children and young people are valued, respected and happy. Through our campaigns and research, we seek to influence policy and perceptions to improve child protection so young people have a better chance in life. Since Edward Rudolf founded The Childrens Society in 1881, weve been working tirelessly for children and young people and, every step of the way, this work has been supported by dedicated, concerned people just like you. In recent times, we campaigned on behalf of young runaways, and lobbied for an end to detention of children seeking asylum.

What is campaigning?

Campaigning is about helping people come together to change something. It might be about tackling injustice, encouraging people to make a particular decision, or changing the way people think about an issue. Or it can be about reversing a decision or halting a dangerous proposal. As a campaigner supporting The Childrens Society, theres a wide variety of activities that you might take part in. You dont need to devote every waking hour to it; any time you can spare will really help. You may find yourself writing letters, signing petitions, organising marches, holding meetings, arranging prayer vigils or devising publicity stunts.

Or you could develop fundraising ideas and talk to others about what their support could provide. If you become a house box network coordinator, or organise a fundraising event, youll be making a long-term commitment to the needs of young people. Call 0300 303 7000 for more information about getting involved in fundraising. Your campaigning might be focused more on reaching out to local and national media, or meeting with elected officials. It can be all of this, and more.

03

Planning
What is it you want to achieve? Be clear and specific. For example, some end goals might be having freshly cooked school meals in your local area, or making sure the police are trained in responding to child sexual exploitation. You need to be clear what your end goal is, then work out who the people are that have the power to make that change for you. Who is it that you need to target? A lot of campaigns, regardless of the size or issue, get off on the wrong foot by not being clear about who they are targeting in their campaign. You need to think about who can act to enable you to meet your goal. This group or individual will be the direct target(s) of the campaign.

Making a change

Sometimes youll be able to meet your principal target directly to talk to them. But youll probably need to persuade people who influence them too the last thing you want is to convince your target that this change is important and then have other people persuade them otherwise.

Quite often, youll target the person lowest down in the hierarchy who has the power to make the change you want. Its no good always building campaigns that target the Prime Minister. So, meeting with influencers is very important. This may include teachers and young people, or all local constituents.

OutCry! A2 Poster

20/1/10

10:49

Page 1

END IMMIGRATION DETENTION OF CHILDREN

OutCry!
We were delighted to achieve our OutCry! campaign objective when the government announced its timetable to end the detention of children for immigration purposes. The family unit at Yarls Wood was closed immediately.
Every year, the UK immigration system locks up 1,000 children. Detention is damaging, expensive and unnecessary. We want to live in a more humane and compassionate society. We believe detaining children is immoral and unacceptable. Do you?

Join the campaign at www.outcrycampaign.org.uk

The Childrens Society Registered Charity No. 221124 | Bail for Immigration Detainees Registered Charity No. 1077187. Exempted by the OISC | The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund Registered Charity No. 1064238 Photograph posed by model Shutterstock | 7584/10/09

From the outset of the campaign in collaboration with Bail for Immigration Detainees we looked at what we wanted to change (immigration detention of children and young people), who had the power to change it (national government) and what methods and resources we had at our disposal for achieving it.

04

Raising awareness

On some campaigns, you might want to raise awareness of a situation or change the way people think about an issue. This wont be about identifying one particular target, as your target will be a wider group. If you were campaigning to raise awareness of young people being trafficked, for instance, you might target local transport centres and public spaces. These campaigns will depend on strong public appearances, events and alliances with organisations that can expose your issue to lots of people, such as schools and media outlets. Dont put the cart before the horse. Many campaigns and campaign actions are not successful because the organisers have only thought about the action, not about what its intended to achieve. Dont plan to have a petition, stunt or meeting before youve worked out what the best course of action to take would be. First get your objectives clear, then think about what actions, and contacts, can help you to achieve them.

Think about what resources you have and what you might need. Do you need people with specific skills writing newsletters, organising meetings? Can The Childrens Society help you with this? (Youll find contact details at the end of this guide). Think about the external environment and other peoples timings. When is the local council setting its budget, when are the key committee meetings, when are local elections in your area etc? Some campaigns make the mistake of running the campaign based on their own timings and ignore key dates in the external environment. You wont be expected to act as The Childrens Society official representative. Your actions will be more powerful if youre acting as an independent citizen, in support of our campaign. So make sure people know you dont work for The Childrens Society and that youre representing yourself and stating your own views.

Getting started

Start in your own front room. If you have friends who may want to get involved, invite them round for a coffee and talk about the issues you care about. Start making a plan.

You might think chatting to friends, or sending an email, will never achieve anything. But its worth remembering theres no such thing as starting off too small: lots of little actions will always add up to big change.

05

Growing
You can start growing your campaign as soon as you decide you want to do something. If youre starting on your own, or with a group of friends, start spreading the discussion; chat to neighbours and family members. Quite often, youll be surprised who is touched by the issue and is keen to get involved.

Meetings with other campaigners

Holding an open meeting is a great way of building your local campaign. You can create a space for newcomers to learn more about the issues, decide if they want to help out and discuss together how to move it forward. Before the meeting, have a think about the following things. Have you got a suitable venue thats not too noisy? Is it easy to find and easy to access, with good transport links?

Get an idea of how many people might be coming. Check with the venue that therell be enough space for all of you. Make sure everyone knows when and where the event is taking place. Try to organise the meeting at a time when most people will be able to come, like after working hours or on the weekend.

End Child Poverty

The Childrens Society has always campaigned on child poverty and on highlighting the reality of life for children from low income backgrounds. We joined End Child Poverty as we shared the groups central goals, and we knew it was a better way of achieving them than all organisations working in isolation. End Child Poverty is a substantial coalition of charities, child welfare organisations, social justice groups, faith groups, trade unions and others. It was established in 2003 with a single goal - to eradicate child poverty in the UK. While the coalition members may differ in many ways, we make a much bigger impact when we work together.

06

Spread the word by telling friends and asking them to tell their friends, sharing it on church/ community notice board, sharing it through social media (see Page 14), Its great if everyone present gets a chance to talk about why theyre there and what they want to see happen next. Try to reach an agreement on some action points. Perhaps everyone can agree to go and see their local MP, or write to their local councillor?

You shouldnt feel responsible for all aspects of the event. Try to get others involved in publicising it and preparing the room. And, of course, get contact details of all attendees, and discuss how often you should all keep in touch. Any questions about organising or running a meeting, contact supportercare@ childrenssociety.org.uk

Forming a group

If you decide to form a campaign group, contact supportercare@childrenssociety.org.uk for assistance and support, and for more information on whats happening in your region.

07

Alliances

Forming alliances is a really important part of organising and creating change. Start by working out who you know, from your existing network. Who would get involved in the campaign? These individuals could be associated with an organisation; would they be interested in supporting? What local groups campaign and advocate for young people? Once you and your fellow campaigners do this, you should find that you quickly develop a list of organisations you can contact. When you have a list, start thinking about what groups you want to reach out to, and the best way of doing this. You might make alliances with groups who you dont normally work with and your campaign will be strengthened by this. For instance, a mums and toddlers group might come together with a group of teachers to campaign for their area to be more child-friendly.

When forming alliances and cooperating with other organisations, exercise a degree of caution. If the partner group has a negative reputation or an ideological bias, it could reflect badly on your campaign. Take advantage of disagreement If youre discussing an important change, or an emotive issue, youll often have discussions that involve disagreements. The first thing to remember is that this isnt a problem. It means that people are listening to you and engaging with the campaign and the issues: a huge step! If people dont agree with the campaign, or with one of your key points, try not to get disheartened or angry. Always go back to the benefits of taking action. For a Childrens Society campaign, youll always have a report full of evidence supporting what were asking for. So repeat the evidence, back up your claims and look for agreements.

08

Making change with your church

Getting your church congregation involved in campaigning is an effective way of getting names on a petition, signatures on post cards or a group of people together to lobby your local MP or council. But the best way to get your church involved is to root the campaign in the regular prayer and worship life of your congregation. Theres a few ways to do this. You could hold a special service for the campaign, using the worship materials on The Childrens Society website. Ask your prayer group to pray for the young people affected by the issue.

Include the campaign week by week in your intercessions. Put an article about the campaign in your local church newsletter or parish magazine. If you do hold a special event in your church either a church service or a talk then make sure you have enough campaign resources for everyone at the meeting to take action or make a donation. Email supportercare@ childrenssociety.org.uk for campaign postcards or gift envelopes.

9285_TCS_WEEK_GenBed_297x210

30/9/05

1:48 pm

Page 1

DEREK, SERIAL PAEDOPHILE OPERATES ONE OF THE UKS BUSIEST REFUGES FOR CHILD RUNAWAYS.

Safe and Sound

We have worked to protect runaways for decades. The Safe and Sound campaign was a huge step in bringing this work to national attention and creating lasting change. A group of 23 bishops joined the Safe and Sound campaign from the beginning. They recognised that the Church is a powerful movement and The Childrens Society provided an opportunity to turn faith into action. It was a huge effort from everyone who got involved, and was only possible by using the strong networks we have in our churches. Church groups played a massive part in collecting the 100,000 signatures one for every young person who runs away each year we delivered to government asking for all runaways to have a chance to feel safe and sound.

Derek often helps children out. Hes got a spare room, theres no charge and when youre frightened and alone on the streets you look for kindness wherever you can. In the UK there are just 10 refuge beds for the 100,000 children who run away from violence, abuse or neglect at home every year. Join The Childrens Societys Safe and Sound campaign for a national network of refuges for runaways and help give children an alternative to becoming victims of paedophiles, pimps and pushers. Please give runaway children a safe and sound alternative.

INSIST THAT TONY BLAIR GIVES THE 100,000 RUNAWAYS SAFE REFUGE. PLEASE CALL 0845 345 9252* TODAY AND JOIN OUR CAMPAIGN.
www.childrenssociety.org.uk/safeandsound
Charity Registration No. 221124 *Calls are charged at local rates 35|A|B|1

09

Lobbying your MP

MPs raise issues affecting their constituents in Parliament and with Ministers, attend debates and vote on new laws. Many MPs are also members of committees, which look at issues and government policy in more detail. Writing to your MP: The best way to contact your MP is to write them a letter or send them an email. To find your local MPs contact details go to: http:// findyourmp.parliament.uk/. Make sure you identify yourself as a constituent, or as a group running in their constituency. Include your postcode or the postcode of where your group meets. This means that the MP will be able to help you. Ask your MP to take a specific action such as: writing to a government minister, signing up to your campaign, signing an Early Day Motion or asking a parliamentary question. Make your email clear and concise, and ask your MP for a reply. If youre writing on behalf of one of The Childrens Societys campaigns, please look on our website for more information. Remember to keep a record of all your correspondence. The more letters they receive on any issues the more likely they are to take notice.

Meeting your MP: If you meet with your MP, make sure that everyone who is attending the meeting has discussed what you are going to say beforehand. Ask the MP to do something specific: write to a government minister, sign up to your campaign, sign an Early Day Motion or ask a parliamentary question. Keep a record of what was said and write to your MP afterwards confirming what they agreed to do. Dont bluff When talking to politicians, the media, other campaigners, or anyone else, never try to fudge your answer and dont make things up. You might think saying, I dont know will look bad for you and your campaign, but getting details wrong will look a lot worse. If youre asked a question to which you dont know the answer, theres a couple of good options: Say that youll try to find out the answer, and get back to the person who asked you. Say Im not sure about that detail, but generally its the case that and you can make a general point which you are sure about. Your most important asset is credibility. So its great if you know lots about the subject youre talking about, but dont say something if youre not sure of it.

10

Lobbying your local councillor

Councillors make decisions about how your local council is run, what services the council provide, and how the council spends its money. Search google for, Find out about your local councillors, and find the directgov site. Different councils are structured differently depending on the area so it is important to find out about your local council and its councillors. Make sure you target the right people by looking at the roles of different departments and committees. There are a number of different councillors you should look at: Local Ward Councillors each councillor represents a specific ward, or area. Leader of the Council is the leader of the largest political group on the council and is the most senior person in the council. They lead the decision-making process. Leader of the Opposition is the leader of the second largest political group on the council. Lead Cabinet or Committee member for the relevant area these are the senior members of the cabinet that lead the policy development in their area. They are, for example, the lead member for Childrens Services.

Chair or member of the Relevant Overview and Scrutiny Panel these panels review the decisions made by the cabinet or committee members and make recommendations. Approaching your local councillor You could send your local councillor a letter or write them an email. All their contact details will be on your local councils website. When writing to them: Remember to identify yourself as a local resident. Be clear about what the issue is and the impact on children, young people and local families. Ask them to do something specific or to set out a plan to tackle the issue. Ask for a reply and remember to keep a record of all your correspondence. Or you could attend one of your local ward councillors surgeries. These are for local residents to raise concerns about their local area. Search google for find out about councillor advice surgeries, to get the details.

11

Look for common ground with everyone Approach meetings with MPs or councillors aiming to find as much agreement as possible. When youre talking about the issue, perhaps ask the MP/ councillor if theyve done work on it before and how you (and your fellow campaigners) might be able to help out from now on. Dont bombard them with facts and figures, but have a few key messages prepared and backed up with evidence. If anyone is asking for a lot more detail than you have, give them The Childrens Society report or reading material. Make sure you follow up your meeting and keep people accountable to what theyve agreed to do.

Election law When campaigning on behalf of The Childrens Society, or any charity, there are some legal aspects to keep in mind. A charity cannot endorse any election candidate or political party or else the independence of the charity is unclear and charities must be independent. You need to be particularly careful during election campaign periods. While we can hold events or prepare materials which discuss how different parties and candidates would tackle issues we care about, we cannot urge voting (or not voting) for any of them. Read the Charity Commissions guidance on charity campaigning to find out more (The link is at the end of this guide).

If youre looking for advice on contacting or meeting elected officials, you can contact The Childrens Society policy team through supportercare@childrenssociety.org.uk

Stand By Me
When we were working to make sure disabled children placed away from home had a real say in decisions concerning their lives, we knew the crucial element would be connecting young people and policy makers. We led a consortium of more than 30 organisations to highlight the issue. Through this partnership we worked with disabled children and their advocates and met directly with the Prime Minister and government representatives. We used a live video link to involve young people in a Ministerial meeting. This allowed young people who might not otherwise be able to be involved in lobbying, due to their complex communication and support needs, to take part. This proved to be a very effective method for improving understanding of the needs of disabled children by professionals and politicians.

12

Growing media attention

Growing a campaign locally or nationally becomes much easier if you have a good relationship with the media. This media could be national, regional or local; newspapers, radio or TV. They all have their uses for you, and they all have different strengths. But local papers will always be the most likely to cover your campaign or event. The first thing to say about media coverage is that therell always be help available. The Media Team at The Childrens Society will always be on hand to offer advice and help [youll find the relevant contact details on page 18]. Prepare a press release that can be emailed a few days in advance of any activity, and always follow up with a phone call. Press Release Template on page 19

The campaign youre working on might be national or even international, but to get interest in your area, youll need to make the focus local. Think about how the issues affect children and families in your area?

Interviews

When speaking to any media to promote the campaign, always keep it simple and aim to make no more than three key points. Prepare for any questions you think will be asked. Make sure you give complete answers. Never assume your audience knows what you are talking about. Use background information and examples to help. Know who you are talking to, and why, and what their deadline is. Never comment on something you dont know about or get drawn in to speculating for a third party. If you are doing a broadcast interview, ask for the questions in advance to help you prepare. Dont attack individuals In conversations, or in writing, try not to say anything that could be considered rude or offensive about a particular person. You could end up in trouble personally, and it could damage your campaigns reputation, and ultimately prevent you from making change. Try to criticise procedures and policies, not individuals.

Involve your local paper

Writing to your local paper is a great way of drawing attention to an important issue in your area. MPs and councillors will always keep a keen eye on whats being discussed in their local paper, so it can influence decision makers, but it will also reach the general public. Make your letter clear and simple. Address a small number of important points about the issue. You might want to get the letter cosigned by fellow Childrens Society campaigners, or by local organisations.

13

Photographs

An eye-catching photograph can bring your story, and your campaign, to life. Think about creating a photo opportunity when planning your story and invite the local paper or take a good picture and send it to them. The support of a local celebrity or dignitary can always help to raise the profile and awareness of your issue.

For any event, or photo opportunity, its great to have some campaign-related resources, like banners or t-shirts, to display. For media attention, the campaign should have a visual identity. Contact The Childrens Society if you think you need more resources: supportercare@ childrenssociety.org.uk.

Materials

The Childrens Society head office will have materials they can provide for campaign use. This might include things like bookmarks, A5 leaflets, postcards, posters or stickers. All of these will be useful for when youre holding events and looking to spread the word.

Case studies

The Childrens Society staff will have access to a variety of case studies and images you may find helpful. Contact supportercare@childrenssociety.org.uk to find out whats available.

Campaigning using social media

Social media networks such as Twitter and Facebook are a great way to reach a wider audience, and can be used to organise campaign events, and get others onboard. You can find out how many other people are interested in your campaign issues, discuss it on blogs and forums, and gather support.

Building your campaign community: Choose short, user-friendly Twitter & Facebook identity names i.e. @yourname, facebook.com/yourname. Remember, there are only 140 characters available in each Twitter post. The longer your Twitter ID, the more space it takes up, which can limit your interactions.

14

 Search for people to follow and connect with. Its perfectly normal in Twitter culture to follow people youve never met. On Facebook, search groups to see if anyone else is campaigning on this issue, and invite your friends, family and colleagues to join you. Reach out regularly on these networks; update your followers and your groups on progress, and also start conversations and join debates.

Promote others and share your best information. The more information you put out, the more you receive. When you find other contacts with great links and resources, share them with your community.

Connect with us on social media channels www.twitter.com/childrensociety www.facebook.com/childrenssociety The Childrens Society on Google+: www.gplus.to/childrenssociety www.childrenssociety.org.uk/news-and-views/ good-childhood-blog

Blogging

To document the campaign, from the beginning to your ultimate success, a blog is a great tool. Posting all the latest developments, including any photos or videos you have, means that anyone interested can get lots of information and resources, and see what stage the campaigns at. This is helpful for people who want to get involved, but also for media enquiries. Keep your post headlines short and relevant; include key words about the campaign so that search engines will find you Guest post and use guest bloggers; writing for likeminded blogs and inviting others to post on yours will generate more content for

your blog, and spread the word to new readers Be consistent post regularly on relevant topics and always respond to feedback Include lots of links to relevant sites and content in your posts Find other blogs focusing on issues affecting children and young people, to start making connections. Remember to ask permission from anyone who appears in a photo or video youll be using. Two of the best free, easyto-use platforms are http://wordpress.org and www.tumblr.com

15

Succeeding
Even if youve won your campaign, the change still needs to happen on the ground. You need to ensure the change is implemented and the successes that you have made are not lost in the future.

Celebrate your successes, however small

Sometimes it can be a long road to success and you need to keep yourself and the rest of your group motivated, so take time to celebrate and let people know when you do achieve success.

16

Evaluating

When your involvement with the campaign is coming to an end, youll find it really valuable to take time to evaluate. This is about learning from what youve done and proving what youve accomplished. So look out for successes, learning points and stumbling blocks to avoid in future. And it all should be backed up with evidence, as much as possible. Outcomes (what youve changed) are more important than outputs (things youve done). For example, you might want to note the number of people who attended an event. But try to think about what the outcome of this was. Did it achieve a change in opinion in the community, were procedures changed within organisations or government? Keep it simple and in proportion to your campaign its probably wise not to spend a long time evaluating a shortterm campaign. Try to get a mix of evidence from internal and external sources.

Be clear from the outset, clarify roles and responsibilities and make time for this in campaign planning. Build evidence that could reasonably be used to make a connection. Other key questions to think about: What did we do well, and how can we prove we did it well? What do we need to learn from and what can we improve? What was supposed to happen, what actually happened and why were they different? And also, be sure to assess: Did you get enough support from The Childrens Society? Enough materials and advice? While it might seem painstaking, the information you collect will be really valuable to you when you come to work on future campaigns, and to everyone at The Childrens Society.

Tools, links, resources, contacts

Contact: The Childrens Society Edward Rudolf House Margery Street London WC1X 0JL supportercare@childrenssociety.org.uk 0300 303 7000

See how were using social media and blogs: www.twitter.com/childrensociety www.facebook.com/childrenssociety The Childrens Society on Google+: www.gplus.to/childrenssociety www.childrenssociety.org.uk/news-and-views/good-childhood-blog www.charitycomms.org.uk/socialmediaguide For all The Childrens Society research and policy documents: www.childrenssociety.org.uk/what-we-do/research Check to see what events organised by The Childrens Society are taking place in your area: www.childrenssociety.org.uk/in-your-area Find out how your MP voted on a particular issue and what he/she said about it in Parliament: http://findyourmp.parliament.uk/ Find your local councillors: http://local.direct.gov.uk/LDGRedirect/index.jsp?LGSL=358&LGIL=8 Great hub for a range of campaigning needs: www.campaigncentral.org.uk Some really great resources and useful tips: www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/campaigning-resources Series of videos on how to campaign. Really useful: www.louder.org.uk/FreeDave/ The Charity Commissions guidance on campaigning can be downloaded from here: www.charitycommission.gov.uk/Charity_requirements_guidance/Your_charitys_activities/ Campaigning/elect.aspx

18

Template press release layout

Date

News release

(must insert if news release or photocall)

Headline should be catchy and localised to capture attention

First paragraph needs to say why, what, when, where and who (keep it short and to the point.) The copy text is set in 12pt Verdana/80% black on 15pt line spacing with a whole line space between paragraphs and no indents. 2nd and 3rd paragraphs should expand on the event or story. This is an opportunity to go into more detail. Still keep it short and to the point. Think of your audience: avoid technical phrases or complicated jargon. 4th paragraph quote. Start with persons name, job title. The quote needs to be relevant and supportive. How to decide who to quote? Often youd use the most senior person involved with the campaign or event. For a 2nd quote, in a further paragraph, use someone from a different organisation who will endorse the story. If you are hosting an event in collaboration, ask if you can include a quote from the partner organisation in the release. For a final paragraph, the focus should be information about the campaign and how people can get involved. This should include any links to websites or groups. Media enquiries: Name, telephone number and email address ensure that the number given will be manned at all times during the event or when the story is run. If a journalist cant get hold of anyone, they might be tempted to drop the story. Notes to editor: This section should contain further supporting information on your group. If you would like to include information on The Childrens Society, contact us.

19

The Childrens Society Edward Rudolf House Margery Street London WC1X 0JL

Email: supportercare@childrenssociety.org.uk Call: 0300 303 7000

Lines are open from 9m to 5pm, Monday to Friday

www.childrenssociety.org.uk
Charity Registration No. 221124 | Photographs modelled for The Childrens Society | Laurence Dutton | Georgie Scott | Melissa Elsey | Shutterstock

A better childhood. For every child.